Blazblue: Continuum Shift

Hover mouse over screenshots for commentary.

February 2013

The "main" character in the game is probably Ragna. He has a super big sword which creates some visually interesting moves.	This is very much the personality of this character is Blazblue - can you imagine a more complex way to say "Whoever has more health wins."?


		One of various static backgrounds for the story dialogue to transpire in.
	This game is also characterized by intricate designs on virtually every screen. This is the credits background.
To be honest, it's been awhile since I've played the game and I don't remember what this is. I think it's pretty important. It might even be the Blazblue?	A popular restaurant.	Where the weird cat-people live.
A gross area under the town.	Typical character poses before they get into a fight.

Ragna's childhood home.

I don't remember why, but this weirdo stabbed herself and Ragna at the same time.

That dude surrounded by green is called Terumi. He is just the worst. He'd easily be diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder.		The mysterious beings who control the universe. They are unhappy with their minion.

		This cat dude trained Ragna.
And got him a giant sword. Japanese game developers seem to really like humongous swords.
Ragna is unable to defeat Terumi.

Ragna is annoyed at the artist's rendition of him in his wanted poster.
You play a story mode with each character, each with multiple endings. At the end, a cartoon character will appear and explain to your character where you went wrong and give you hints at how to obtain a better ending. This whole bit completely ignores the fourth wall!
Tao, the weird cat-person with an odd face, surrounded by lots of little ones.		The game gets pretty goofy at times. This is a killer robot attracted to Ragna because he is wearing special glasses.
Bang Shishigami, one of the comic reliefs. He carries a giant nail on his back. He is dead serious about everything, but he's also kind of an idiot.
	More goofiness, with a Bang constellation adored by cat-people.
		The guy on the left is the father of the kid on the right. The dad made a robot to replace his dead wife, and the kid made a robot to replace his dead sister. The robots are fighting. I told you this game was weird.
	Oh look! A screenshot of the actual fighting game!


Many of the characters playing a board game. It's a joke ending.	Typical dialogue of Bang . . .
	Instead of saying "Ready?" or something before the match, it says "Rebel" then "Action!" I still don't know what that means.
	Each character has various finishing moves, with the most difficult being an "Astral Finish." This character has a special ending depending on which character he's beaten.	The controls.
The dude on the left is a werewolf/butler. Pretty sweet.
One character tried to exploit the Blazblue and got turned into a blob. This is a joke ending where he is saying some strange things. . .
		The blob guy was in love with this woman when he was still human. She still loves him even though he's a blob, but he's too ashamed to talk to her.

"You wouldn't like me, when I'm angry. . ."
		Main Menu screen






This is a particularly crazy joke ending where you're player turns giant and gold to fight a giant cat-person. It was funny at the time, okay?!		"14 karat gold!"


	The city where most of the game takes place.


	Oh yeah, this guy has eyeballs all over his body.
	This character is over-the-top cutesy, complete with a heart-shaped wand.




Remember how the iPhone 4 wouldn't make phone calls if you held it in your hand?







Terumi's true form.


		It's hard to capture screenshots in a game like this, but a lot of the moves had some great visual flair.




Quite a few story modes, as you can see.







	Yeah, the blob guy has some weird moves . . .


		There is a mode where you fight increasingly difficult enemies, going down a few depth levels at a time. There is a particularly difficult boss at this depth.
	The best I've ever done. I can't imagine getting all the way to 1000.

Blazblue (pronounced "Blaze Blue") is a PS Vita game, but it came out first on the PS3. It's a 1 vs 1 fighting game. This is not the type of game that I would normally buy for two reasons: I don't really like fighting games that much, and it's anime style is not normally something appealing to me. But I'd heard such good things about it that I thought I'd give it a try. It's actually really good! The story mode is more interesting and complex than most games (which is super rare for a fighting game!) and I was able to get good with some characters without an insane amount of effort. It also had a fun sense of humor throughout the story, which was a nice change of pace from the somewhat over-serious main plot. I'll never be able to execute some of those combos, though. . .

The Therapist Gamer

The "main" character in the game is probably Ragna. He has a super big sword which creates some visually interesting moves.

This is very much the personality of this character is Blazblue - can you imagine a more complex way to say "Whoever has more health wins."?

One of various static backgrounds for the story dialogue to transpire in.

This game is also characterized by intricate designs on virtually every screen. This is the credits background.

To be honest, it's been awhile since I've played the game and I don't remember what this is. I think it's pretty important. It might even be the Blazblue?

A popular restaurant.

Where the weird cat-people live.

A gross area under the town.

Typical character poses before they get into a fight.

Ragna's childhood home.

I don't remember why, but this weirdo stabbed herself and Ragna at the same time.

That dude surrounded by green is called Terumi. He is just the worst. He'd easily be diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder.

The mysterious beings who control the universe. They are unhappy with their minion.

This cat dude trained Ragna.

And got him a giant sword. Japanese game developers seem to really like humongous swords.

Ragna is unable to defeat Terumi.

Ragna is annoyed at the artist's rendition of him in his wanted poster.

You play a story mode with each character, each with multiple endings. At the end, a cartoon character will appear and explain to your character where you went wrong and give you hints at how to obtain a better ending. This whole bit completely ignores the fourth wall!

Tao, the weird cat-person with an odd face, surrounded by lots of little ones.

The game gets pretty goofy at times. This is a killer robot attracted to Ragna because he is wearing special glasses.

Bang Shishigami, one of the comic reliefs. He carries a giant nail on his back. He is dead serious about everything, but he's also kind of an idiot.

More goofiness, with a Bang constellation adored by cat-people.

The guy on the left is the father of the kid on the right. The dad made a robot to replace his dead wife, and the kid made a robot to replace his dead sister. The robots are fighting. I told you this game was weird.

Oh look! A screenshot of the actual fighting game!

Many of the characters playing a board game. It's a joke ending.

Typical dialogue of Bang . . .

Instead of saying "Ready?" or something before the match, it says "Rebel" then "Action!" I still don't know what that means.

Each character has various finishing moves, with the most difficult being an "Astral Finish." This character has a special ending depending on which character he's beaten.

The controls.

The dude on the left is a werewolf/butler. Pretty sweet.

One character tried to exploit the Blazblue and got turned into a blob. This is a joke ending where he is saying some strange things. . .

The blob guy was in love with this woman when he was still human. She still loves him even though he's a blob, but he's too ashamed to talk to her.

"You wouldn't like me, when I'm angry. . ."

Main Menu screen

This is a particularly crazy joke ending where you're player turns giant and gold to fight a giant cat-person. It was funny at the time, okay?!

"14 karat gold!"

The city where most of the game takes place.

Oh yeah, this guy has eyeballs all over his body.

This character is over-the-top cutesy, complete with a heart-shaped wand.

Remember how the iPhone 4 wouldn't make phone calls if you held it in your hand?

Terumi's true form.

It's hard to capture screenshots in a game like this, but a lot of the moves had some great visual flair.

Quite a few story modes, as you can see.

Yeah, the blob guy has some weird moves . . .

There is a mode where you fight increasingly difficult enemies, going down a few depth levels at a time. There is a particularly difficult boss at this depth.

The best I've ever done. I can't imagine getting all the way to 1000.

Blazblue: Continuum Shift